


Before the Final Trial

by leviphiliac



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 06:13:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17156747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leviphiliac/pseuds/leviphiliac
Summary: Kaiba and Joey talk on the way to Yugi and Atem's final trial.





	Before the Final Trial

**Author's Note:**

> It seems I've written this after watching the dub. Dub!Kaiba sucks. I don't really remember the details. It was supposed to be shippy but it didn't happen.

Yugi had decided to be the one duelling his other self. Joey claimed he was okay with it, but the whole thing just made him uneasy. Was he really going to disappear? He leaned against the ship’s rail and groaned at the perspective of what was to come.

"Try not to fall overboard; I hate the smell of wet dog."

Joey rolled his eyes. "Kaiba, don't you ever get tired of being a prick?"

"Why would I, when it's so much fun teasing you? Besides, I've got nothing better to do now that Yugi shunned my purpose for coming along."

"Oh, thanks for the attention. But between your company and falling overboard, guess which I prefer."

Kaiba sneered at him. "Do you want some help with that?"

Joey didn't know whether to be annoyed or scared. "What the hell do you really want, Kaiba? I didn't ask you to come here."

Kaiba leaned on the ship's rail, beside Joey. "You might as well should have. With this abandoned dog stance you're displaying, I wonder how your troupe of geeks isn't here to cheer you up. Are they throwing a send-off for Yugi's imaginary friend?"

Joey grabbed him by the collar, his other hand closed in a fist. "You don't know what you're talking about, Rich-boy! Either you shut up or you'll be the one swimming."

Kaiba was unfazed. "Why are you out here then?"

Joey let go of him and returned his gaze to the ocean. "I..." He grabbed the rail so tightly his knuckles were white. "Why are you asking? You wouldn't understand anyway."

"Something you understand and I don't? That doesn’t exist."

"What's the point in telling you when you're just gonna mock me? It has to do with your favourite subject: friends."

"Look, just say it already. Like I said, I have nothing better to do."

"People must get shocked all the time at your display of compassion, Kaiba." He sighed. "Even after everything you saw you still don't believe there are two Yugis and one of them was a Pharaoh, but if you really want me to speak, you'll just have to pretend you do."

Kaiba remained silent.

"Anyways, it's not like it's an unusual thing. A friend I've known for a long time is going away and I'm just sad to see him go, alright? He's my best friend; we're closer than brothers actually. I'm not belittling Yugi, he's my best friend too, they both taught me so much. I owe so much to them. And... I didn't know if I could pretend that I was happy right now, and if I showed my mopey face around them, it would just stink up the mood even more."

After a few moments of silence, Kaiba spoke again. "I have to hand it to you, I really don't understand. I can't fathom the concept of 'friendship' and why it should mean so much."

"You are a sad person."

"Maybe, but I'm not an idiot like you. Don't you think they're all feeling exactly the same as you are?"

Joey raised his head to look at Kaiba. "Huh?"

"Now you're the one who doesn't understand. They're all pretending to be happy, you moron. If things are as you said, none of them would be thrilled to part with someone important. Be they imaginary or not. If you show up sad-faced around them, they'll just smile at you and assure you it's okay. The expression you make on the outside it's the same they'll be making on the inside, so what difference does it make?"

For once, Joey was speechless. He stared at Kaiba as if he had grown a second head. "Those are some major insights for someone who don't understand friendship."

"I just worked with what you gave me. Now are you going in there or are you staying out here with the poor sad person?"

Once again, speechless. So Kaiba really was admitting he also had flaws. "Sure, I'll go. But only if you duel me first."

"What? What does that have to do with anything?"

"What are you talking about? Since when do we need a reason to play Duel Monsters?"

"Why play when you know you're going to lose?"

"Why make the bed every morning when you're gonna unmake it at night?"

Joey could swear he could feel an icy wave coming from below, as if hell had just frozen over, because Kaiba was smiling. He turned on his Duel Disk and handed over his deck so Joey could shuffle it. Joey did the same. "Alright then, I'll even let you start."

"Oh, being nice now, huh? Okay, I ain't gonna complain."

For all of three turns, Joey was the only one lowering Kaiba's Life Points, but then his Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon showed up and things got tougher.

Kaiba was secretly impressed. This was being much harder than their little dispute for the bronze back in the Battle City finals. When he finally beat Joey, he was left with only 100 Life Points.  
Joey sat on the floor with a tired smile on his face. "Congratulations, Rich-boy. You still got it."

"I always will. And..."

"And?"

"You did okay." He spoke so low Joey almost didn't hear it. Almost.

"Heh. Could've sworn you just complimented me. Must be going crazy."

"Must be."

"Hey Kaiba, you said once that you never duelled for fun. So, today was... what?"

"Don't push your luck, Wheeler. I've ran out of nice things to say for at least a couple of years."

"Alright, alright. Let's just say this. If your goal is to beat Yugi, then I'll make my goal to beat you!"

"Hah. If there really are two of them, I'm pretty sure the one you're sending away is the one who's good at card games. It'll be a cinch to beat the other one."

"Don't be so sure of that. Though I guess only the duel will tell." He stood up to meet with his friends. "I'm going then."

Kaiba watched the few cards left in his deck slot. "And another thing. Any time. You're welcome to try."

Once again, Joey was surprised speechless. He couldn’t help smiling at Kaiba before leaving. _Maybe he ain’t_ such _a prick_.


End file.
